Friday, February 27, 2009

You Decide

Did you know that planning a wedding is hard work! Here is our latest challenge:

What photo(s) do we send with the invitation?


I can't decide so I thought I would leave it up to my adoring and faithful blog readership.

1. Simply look through the pictures below.
2. Leave a comment rating your top 3 choices.
3. One lucky commentor will receive an extra piece of wedding cake at our wedding!



A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

F.

G.

H.

I.

J.

K.

L.

M.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! for helping us make a decision!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Photographers

I found these two great new photographers who virtually work for free! They have already done one engagement photo session with us and we are doing another on Saturday.





(Yes, I like kissing pictures :) )


Aren't these photographers amazing!!!
Check out their websites: JilliK & MegaD

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Flying Johns

On my walk to the Devereaux House the other afternoon I saw a couple of flying johns.


These were undoubtably fresh ones being delivered to the top floors of the construction site but it made me wonder: Do the used ones come down the same way? Do they ever spill? I sure wouldn't want to be around for that.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Valentines Treats

This is what Dave had up his sleeve on Valentines Day.


A Dozen Long-Stemmed Red Roses
A Long-Stemmed Chocolate Rose Bud
A Box of New Orleans Chocolates
and Dinner at Robintinos



Perfectly Lovely!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Happy Valentines Day

On Valentines Day 2007 I received flowers from a guy I had only dated twice. Our last date was at least 10 days before the holiday but he still sent me flowers and we never went out again. A little creepy.

Last Valentines Day 2008 came a single long stemmed rose from some anonymous being. I'm pretty certain it was my home teacher. Kind of him to remember me.

This Valentines Day I finally have a wonderful sweetheart to share the holiday with and guess what? I'm stuck at work half the night (with my laptop and wireless network in the Tabernacle, hence the post). Rather unjust, if you ask me. But he's promised me we'll do something later tonight. I'm excited to see what he has up his sleeve!

This is what he is getting...


Chocolate chip muffins that I pain-stakingly decorated for him and a very nice card with a gift card inside. (Just don't look too closely at the muffins--they are in Christmas cupcapke papers. But let's keep that our little secret.) ;)

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

2 Months

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, just two more months until the blessed day!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Upside-Down is Great

I really love Pineapple Upside-Down Cake but I don't think I've ever made a really good one that everyone enjoyed and devoured. Until today, that is. I found a recipe in a cookbook but as I can't follow directions, I changed it up to make this a truly Chelsea original.



2 tablespoons Butter - real, creamy, salted butter, no substitutions
1/3 cup Brown Sugar - loosely packed, add more or less depending on preference
2 tablespoons Water - straight from the tap
1 can DelMonte Tidbit Pineapple - let's face it, the name brands are always better than the store brands
1 package Pillsbury White Cake Mix - I imagine you could substitute any other cake mix but this is what I used and it was excellent
1 cup Pineapple Juice - drain the juice from the can, if it isn't enough top it off with water from the tap
1/4 cup Canola Oil - we're cutting down the oil but we can't cut it out
3 Eggs - the whole egg, if you please
4 ounces Cool Whip - softened and stirred into creamy goodness
12 Maraschino Cherries - we get ours at Costco already pitted, with the stems still on...beautiful

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt the butter in the bottom of a 9-inch round pan. This can be done right in the oven as it is heating up.
3. Remove the pan from the oven - be careful, it will be hot! Stir in the brown sugar and water.
4. Add the drained pineapple to the bottom of the pan. Spread it out evenly to completely cover the bottom.
5. In a separate bowl mix together the pineapple juice, oil, and eggs. Add the dry cake mix to the liquid. I like to hand stir this all together to keep the batter from getting over-beaten, which, as we all know, ruins a perfectly good cake.
6. Pour the cake mix over the pineapple. Note that we did not spray the sides of the pan with non-stick cooking spray. Don't worry, you'll still be able to remove the cake and this way the cake will grow up the sides and form a perfectly even dessert, no strange humps in the middle.
7. Bake the cake for at least 35 minutes. For some reason the pineapple juice reacts differently from water and will increase your baking time. Your cake may take even longer - mine took 40 minutes. Keep a toothpick handy to test the center. Do not remove the cake from the oven before it is baked all the way through.
8. Let the cake cool for a good 15 minutes on a wire rack or anything that elevates it and gets cool air underneath the pan.
9. Carefully run a knife along the edges of the cake to loosen the sides. Turn it out onto a pretty round platter. You may have to replace some straying tidbits of pineapple. Just lovingly put them where they belong and they will re-adhere themselves to the cake top.
10. Let the cake completely cool down another hour or so. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill it in the fridge overnight.
11. Just before serving, spread a layer of softened Cool Whip over the pineapple and top with the cherries.
12. Cut, serve, enjoy! And refrigerate any leftovers...but I promise there won't be any leftovers.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Chelsea Morning Turns 100!

Say Hello to post #100!


It took a little over a year to acheive and I know you've had to wade through the most mundane to the most brilliant of my life, but it was worth it, right? Thanks for sticking in there!

You may be interested in some of the highlights of the 100:

* I got a promotion at work.

* We said goodbye to a most beloved prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley and our dearly missed grandfather, Fred Lambert.

* I bought a house and we all watched it being built.

* We welcomed twins into our family.

* I took my first staycation.

* I met an amazing man and we are getting married!

This truly has been a fun and wonderful 100 blog posts and I know the next 100 will be even better. Thanks for reading and taking part in my life!

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

It was raining while I drove home today but the sun was shining below the level of the rain clouds. I wondered if there might possibly be a rainbow somewhere in the sky. I came to a stop at the stoplight near my house, turned my head eastward to view any oncoming traffic, and there I saw it. A beautiful rainbow! The coolest part is that from my garage I could actually see the entire arc of the rainbow.





The phone camera doesn't do it justice. Believe me, it was amazing!

Friday, February 6, 2009

Our Wedding Website

Read all about our story here, on our very own website.
(You'll want to click on the links on the left of the screen.)


64 days and counting!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Evolution

Next week at work we are having a company party and they are forcing us to bring our high school photo. So, I went to my parents' house and dug through all sorts of pictures to find what I was looking for. The whole experience was a trip down memory lane and I couldn't resist sharing my discoveries.


Each picture in this album was professionally taken, whether at the studio, outdoors, or even at a photo booth. Click the link above and enjoy for yourselves The Evolution of Professional Photography and Me.